Rarely are all three fights of a trilogy equal in drama and excitement. But the third fight between Mexican super bantamweights Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez, scheduled for March 1 at Home Depot Center in Carson, could be every bit as good, if not better, than the first two.

And they were incredible.

Marquez earned a seventh-round technical knockout of Vazquez last March at Home Depot Center when Vazquez didn’t answer the bell for the eighth round because he thought he had a broken nose. It wasn’t, but he did have blockages caused by cartilage damage that rendered him unable to breathe through his nose.

Undaunted, Vazquez came back and stopped Marquez in the sixth round of another slugfest last August in Hidalgo, Texas.

The respective fighters and their camps were on hand at Los Angeles’ Olvera Street on Wednesday to formally announce the rubber match, which will be for Vazquez’s world championship belt.

Vazquez, of Los Angeles via Mexico City, is co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Sycuan Ringside Promotions. Scott Woodworth, vice president of Sycuan, couldn’t say enough about what these two fighters have displayed thus far, and what they are liable to show in about five weeks.

“Given my background as vice president of Don King (Productions) and later at Top Rank (Inc.), I’ve worked with some of the best fighters,” Woodworth said. “I was there for the (three) Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera fights, I was at two out of three of Morales-Manny Pacquiao.

“There are trilogies and then there are trilogies. I agree that usually one of the fights of the three just doesn’t match up to the previous fights. In this case, I think it exceeds it each and every time. Why? Because I think both fighters look at themselves as the winner of this fight will become the next great Mexican fan favorite.

“That’s the kind of status they’re going to look at because there are no better boxing fans in the world than Mexicanos.”

So much intrigue was added to this mix when Vazquez (42-4, 31KOs) redeemed himself with the knockout victory in the rematch. Prior to the first fight he went on record as saying he was going to do everything he could to beat Marquez (37-4, 33 KOs), even if it meant he had to die trying.

When he did not come out for the eighth round, he set himself up to be harshly criticized in his homeland. He was. He took a few hits in the U.S. as well.

“A lot of the media in Mexico, and not only in Mexico but here, gave him a bad time for it,” said Eric Gomez, matchmaker for Golden Boy. “And he proved everybody wrong in the second fight. He came back and took care of business.”

Like Woodworth, Gomez appeared as if he couldn’t wait for the bell to ring.

“These guys, it’s all action every round,” Gomez said. “Every second of every round. You can’t blink because anything could happen. Some guy could go down. And it’s great. It really is great. You could put this trilogy up there with some of the great ones, like Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward, Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.”

Promoters and matchmakers alike are known for their hyperbole. But Woodworth and Gomez are not exaggerating.

As for the fighters, Marquez is looking to regain the belt he lost to Vazquez. And Vazquez wants to hold on to that hardware.

“I am hungry to again become champion,” said Marquez, 32, of Mexico City. “In the first and second fights, we both proved ourselves in the ring. We gave everything in that ring. This fight won’t be the exception.”

Vazquez, 30, knows what he is up against, his resounding victory in the rematch notwithstanding.

“I think he is a great warrior, a great fighter,” Vazquez said of Marquez. “And I will come into this fight with the best preparation of my life.”

Vazquez and Marquez have given us two terrific, hard-hitting fights. Now if they can only give us one more.

Showtime will televise.

Chambers facing a big challenge: Promoter Dan Goossen and trainer Buddy McGirt were having dinner somewhere in Berlin on Tuesday night. They are there to guide their fighter, “Fast” Eddie Chambers, in what is the most important fight in his young career.

Chambers will square off against Alexander Povetkin of Russia tonight in the heavyweight main event at the Tempodrome. The winner will earn a shot at the belt currently held by Wladimir Klitschko.

HBO will televise.

Chambers, 25, is not a big heavyweight by any means, standing 6-foot-1 but usually weighing just about 215 pounds. Not only is Povetkin 6-2 and about 227, he won the super heavyweight gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games. And if Chambers beats Povetkin, he could next face Klitschko, a 6-6, 240-pound giant of a fighter.

First things first, and Chambers is confident he will climb tonight’s rung on his way to the top.

“I know exactly who I am up against and I am up for the challenge,” he said. “You wait and see.”

Chambers is promoted by Goossen of Goossen Tutor Promotions in Sherman Oaks and trained by McGirt. Both are certain that Chambers is going to show that a smaller heavyweight can beat a bigger heavyweight if his skills are superior.

“Listen, they said Evander Holyfield was too small and look what he did,” said McGirt, a former world champion who has become quite a trainer.

“Eddie is reminiscent of the guys, you remember, the Joe Fraziers that were 5-10, 5-11, 215 pounds,” Goossen said. “People look at our heavyweights today and if you’re 6-feet tall like Eddie or 6-foot-1 and 215, 220 pounds, they go, `Oh, my God, the heavyweights today are 6-foot-8.’

“We’ve got a few guys who are that tall. Otherwise the heavyweight division is still in the 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2 range, and I believe Eddie’s got this tremendous offensive and defensive ability that make him an exciting fighter.”

There is no guarantee that the winner of this fight will fight Klitschko because Klitschko is scheduled to take on Sultan Ibragimov on Feb. 23 in a title unification fight.

Either way, there was an excitement in Goossen’s voice regarding Chambers and the way he expects Chambers to perform tonight.

“We’ve come over here, and I think we’re the underdog, but I gotta tell you, he’s a real fighter and I believe the American public’s going to get a great taste of him … and the abilities he has, and he’s going to make a smash out here in Europe fighting the super heavyweight gold medalist from our last Olympics,” Goossen said.

Chambers is 30-0 with 16 knockouts. He is the No. 1 contender to Klitschko’s title. Povetkin, 28, is 14-0 with 11knockouts. He is ranked No. 2.